Tom Kelly
Off the pitch Valencia CF really are in quite a mess, while on the pitch they are performing a small miracle. Wherever the club (and certain members of the playing squad) end up at the end of this season, it has been a roller-coaster of a campaign for their supporters for whom turbulent times lie ahead.
They may be one of Spain’s most successful clubs of the last decade, but Los Che are on the verge of financial collapse. The last ten years has seen Valencia establish themselves as one of Europe’s most dominant teams, who between 1999 and 2004 won two Spanish Leagues, a Spanish Cup, a UEFA Cup, and two Champions League finals by becoming the most complete, self assured and together team on the continent. Yet today they find themselves the footballing equivalent of the guy hiding his Rolex, Ray Bans, and diamond earring down the back of the sofa as the bailiffs’ break down his front door.
That is because Valencia are up to their neck in it. The magnitude of the situation only became clear about a month ago when CEO Javier Gomez had the wherewithal to admit that the club are in debt to the tune of €500M.
The main cause of this is former president Juan Soler, a trigger happy graduate of the Peter Ridsdale school of football economics. Between 2004 and 2008, Soler presided over a four-year reign of inhibited self-destruction by following Ridsdale’s model of leveraging the club’s mounting debts on the financial rewards of future league positions, whilst firing and hiring managerial staff at will and paying over the odds for numerous players.
The killer blow however came in 2006, when Soler ordered work to begin on a new stadium, The New Mestalla, a 75,000 seated masterpiece which was to be financed by the sale of the current stadium, the Mestalla, for €400M. That was the plan, until of course the current financial crisis crippled the Spanish economy and slashed the property market, meaning the Mestalla is no longer worth that figure.
Work on the new stadium, which will cost around €250M, was nearing completion but has now been halted as the club have fallen behind on payments to the construction company charged with the job. On top of this, Valencia also owe the bank €240M, thanks largely again to Solar, who wasted close to €100M in inflated transfer fees and pay-offs to former coaches such as Quique Sanchez Flores and Ronald Koeman.
All of which leaves the club having failed to pay their players since February and subsisting for the rest of the season on a loan of €50M from local business investors to pay wages and get the stadium work back underway.
Unfortunately for fans, this is a short term fix and there will be blood this summer as a host of current star players will not be at Valencia next season, even though prized assets such as David Villa and Spanish team-mate David Silva seem reluctant to leave.
However, it is with these players that Valencia fans have been presented with a glimmer of hope as the La Liga season draws to its conclusion. 2008 had seen the team in freefall. They were conceding too many goals, leaving many to speculate that the club’s financial problems were affecting the team.
Up until just a few weeks ago, Valencia had recorded just two wins in 13 games and dropped down to eighth in La Liga. The possibility of finishing amongst the European places seemed remote and the additional revenue that Champions League football would bring was slipping away. This was largely due to their defence, which was (and continues to be) unreliable as they have not kept a clean sheet in the league since November. The midfield had not been much better either as veterans Ruben Baraja and David Abelda offered little creativity and provided slow service to their strikers, who Valencia relied far too heavily on.
However, participation in UEFA`s elite competition next season is now a possibility as Los Che have made a comeback very few could have predicted. An away win at Real Betis thanks to a brace from David Villa made it five wins in a row for Unai Emery`s side, affirming their position in the top four. The weekend 2-2 home draw against high-flying Barcelona also only served to confirm their Champions League prospects. Suddenly a ray of light has appeared at the Mestalla and the opportunity to secure the additional revenue that Champions League football brings is achievable thanks mostly to David Villa, David Silva, new kid on the block Juan Mata and arguably Joaquin.
The return from injury of Silva brought an immediate injection of creativity to the side while David Villa is rapidly moving towards greatness. The striker is having the season of his life and his productivity so far has been astonishing, scoring 35 goals in all competitions, and this for a team that has struggled to provide chances for him. The other stand out performer has been Juan Mata, who has played with fantastic intelligence and consistency, netting nine times in the league and earning an international call up.
Together, these three have dragged Valencia towards the top four and a place in the Champions League. Unfortunately it seems unlikely that all three will be there to compete for Los Che next season and a summer bidding war for Villa and Silva in particular is likely to ensue, with rumours suggesting Real Madrid are set to launch a bid for the two which would help secure the club’s future.
As for the fans, they are left to look back on the Soler reign with disgust, as he took a club that under Hector Cuper and Rafael Benitez, played some of the most enticing European football of noughties to potential oblivion. Perhaps football’s inevitable cyclic nature was always going to see to the Valencia dream end and reaffirm their supporting role to the leading players of Barcelona and Real Madrid; nevertheless the fallout this summer will be hard to watch.
Valencia 08/09 Away DAVID VILLA Valencia 08/09 Away SILVA
